Honolulu, Hawaii
Honolulu, Hawaii - Feb 02 - 09, 2024
How to get from Honolulu Airport to Waikiki
To get to
Waikiki from the airport the choices depend on how much luggage you have. If
you have big luggage you can take Roberts Hawaii Airport Shuttle or a cab. We
always travel light, just with backpacks so we used public transportation. Bus
20 Eastbound route goes from the airport to downtown Honolulu, then to Ala
Moana Center and ends in Waikiki. The buses depart every 25 minutes. The trip
is about 1 hour and the fare is $3 to be paid in cash. The Bus is the cheapest
option but you have to be aware of the baggage rules, you should be able to
place your luggage under the feet or on your lap, no larger bags are allowed.
Most people
visiting Oahu will probably rent a car but using the bus is the cheapest way to
visit Honolulu or go around the island. For a first visit, you can get to
almost all of the popular spots by just jumping on the bus if you plan
carefully ahead. We purchased Holo cards and loaded the cards with a 7-Day
Passes which cost us $32 for each, $2 for the card and $30 for the pass.
Honolulu Must See Attractions
Our first day in Honolulu we walked along the shore all the way to downtown to see
most of the historic landmarks and finished with a visit to Punchbowl Memorial
Cemetery. It was an about 23 km walk but we returned to our hotel by bus.
We started with
a stroll on Waikiki Beach after taking some pictures with the Duke Paoa
Kahanamoku Statue. Waikiki Beach is one of the most famous beaches in the world
and draws millions of visitors each year. Its fame might come from the nice
views of the Diamond Head and for the turquoise waters, otherwise it is a smaller
beach than you will expect.
Magic Island and Magic Island Lagoon
We continued to Kahanamoku Beach, passed by Hilton Lagoon and by Ala Wai Boat Harbour
and got to the Magic Island, a man-made peninsula which later became a park. At
the tip of the peninsula there are seawalls surrounding a shallow lagoon.
Street Art in Honolulu
Walking towards
downtown Honolulu we diverged to Koula St and Auahi Street intersection to see
some of the Honolulu vibrant murals and street art.
Most of the
royal history of Hawaii can be uncovered downtown Honolulu. Iolani Palace was home of the last of Hawaii’s monarchs, King Kalakaua.
Located just accross the
street from Iolani Palace, Ali’Iolani Hale used to be a government building
during King Kalakaua and currently is the home of Hawaii State Supreme Court.
Our walking
itinerary took us by Hawaii State Capitol, the official statehouse of the U.S state of Hawaii,
Then by The Bell of Nagasaki, given to the City
of Honolulu by the survivors of atomic bombing in Nagasaki.
Passed by the Cathedral of St Andrew
And by Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady Peace
And took a break
to visit Capitol Modern, an art museum with free admission and a permanent
display of Hawaiian art.
Located on
Honolulu Harbor, the tower is an iconic symbol of Hawaii. It was the first
place where the visitors landed when coming by the sea and today is still the
place where the big cruise ships dock while in Honolulu.
After visiting
downtown Honolulu we decided to visit Punchbowl Crater where the National
Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific is located. Most of the people drive here but we walked. It took us about 50 minutes for the 3 km to the
top. The memorial commemorates those who lost their lives or went missing in
the Pacific during World War II, Korean War and Vietnam War. There is also a
scenic lookout that offers very nice views of Honolulu.
Other various places during our walk to Honolulu City downtown area
Seeing a Hula Show
One of the best
ways to immerse into the Hawaii’s culture is to see a Hula show. Hula is a
traditional Hawaiian dance that tells a story about history, culture or the
natural world. There are two ways to watch a Hula show, either to go to a Luau,
a Hawaiian feast accompanied by a Hula show or to see one of the free Hula
shows at some venues across Waikiki. Some of these places are
Royal Hawaiian Centre. Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays between 5:30-6:30 pm, International Market Place, Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays at 6:30 or 7 pm depending of season, and Ala Moana Shopping Center, daily at 5 pm.
Located in the
heart of Waikiki, it is a nice place where you can shop, dine or watch a free and paid shows,
Hiking Diamond Head Trail
This is one of the most popular trails in Oahu and one that draws the biggest crowds. Even though is a bit steep, it is also short, about 3 km return route and after seeing Diamond Head from Waikiki Beach, everybody wants to be on the top of the 300,000 years old saucer-shaped crater. It took us 1 hour to get on top and return to the visitor center. To get to the Diamond Head we took Bus 2 from Waikiki area. Bus 23 goes there as well. After getting off the bus it was a short walk uphill that took us through a tunnel and then we got to the Visitor Center. The trail to the summit was built in 1908 as part of Oahu’s coastal defense system. The elevation gain is 157 meters. The trail started with a concrete walkway and then the ascent continued with a zigzag path where we had to also climb stairs or go through a lighted tunnel of almost 70 meters in length. From the summit we could see the bunkers and the lighthouse that was built in 1917. The peak of the crater was very crowded with people regardless the fact that we went there early in the morning. The views we got of the Honolulu shoreline and Waikiki Beach were stunning and well worth it. One thing to keep in mind when doing this trail is that entry and parking to the Diamond Head State Monument requires advance reservations. The fee for non-Hawaii residents is $5. We really enjoyed the trail and even saw some mongooses in the bushes (these non-native animals were brought from India to control the rats population).
Visiting Pearl Harbour and planning your visit
The easiest and
cheapest way to go to Pearl Harbour is by public transportation. Bus 20 stops
in front of the Visitor Centre. There are a lot of things to do when visiting
Pearl Harbour. Some are paid attractions like USS Bowfin Submarine Museum,
Pearl Harbour Aviation Museum and Battleship Missouri Memorial. There are also
free tours, Arizona Memorial tour and Ford Island Bus Tour which takes you to
visit USS Utah and USS Oklahoma memorials. It is important to know that for
these free tours a reservation is needed in advance on recreation.gov website
and you have to pay a $1 program management fee. Also no bags are allowed
inside the visitor center or on the tours. Before entering the gate if you have
a bag you will be directed to go to the paid lockers first.
Exploring
Visitor Center is an experience in itself. Inside we visited the two exhibit
galleries that display personal memorabilia, photos or artifacts of the battle.
Outside, throughout the Visitor Center area there were interpretative wayside
exhibits that help imagining the events of that day and pay tribute to those
that were killed during the attack.
Pearl Harbour Arizona Memorial
Arizona Memorial
is the white concrete and steel structure seen across the water and was built
above the wreckage of USS Arizona Battleship. The tour is about 45 minutes and includes the boat shuttle
to the memorial, time on the memorial and the return trip to the Visitor
Center. Free tickets get released online two weeks in advance. The time was enough
to see the white wall with the names of those killed on the USS Arizona and
also to take pictures or videos. Everything was well organized, military style.
To visit
Battleship Missouri, we had to head first to the bus shuttle that took us to
Ford Island. The shuttle bus station is located to the right of the Pacific
Fleet Submarine Museum. We had to stay in line but there is a shuttle every 15
minutes. Tickets can be purchased either at the Visitor Centre or at the
battleship site. They offer guided tours but we chose to tour on our own, we
got to see all the decks and the inside of the battleship. Battleship Missouri is famous for being the place where the capitulation of
Japan was signed on September 2, 1945.
Conveniently
located within Visitor Center area, it is easy to visit. We did not visit the
Museum and the submarine because we had no available time between the free
tours but we could see it from the shore and from the boat.
Ford Island Bus Tour
The tour
includes visits to both, USS Utah Memorial and USS Oklahoma Memorial, located on Ford Island.
Because Ford Island is an active duty military installation, the tour requires
advance online reservations. The tour is only Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays
between 3:15-5:00 pm and there are only 25 spots released every day. Free
tickets get released online two weeks in advance but at the time of the tickets
release we had to be already logged in into our account and be ready to just
click as the tickets disappear in no time. It is a 90 minutes guided tour
and we travelled to the Ford Island on a smaller bus with the Park
Rangers. All throughout the tour, a park ranger narrated the history of the
ships and told us interesting stories about the marines that lost their lives that day.
We stopped first
at the USS Utah Memorial which is
located north of Ford Island where we could see the wreckage and the memorial,
Then we were
taken to USS Oklahoma Memorial,
located near the entrance to the USS Missouri on Ford Island. There is no
wreckage to be seen because the whereabouts of USS Oklahoma are unknown. The
white posts of the memorial were built using white marble to represent the
colour of the sailor’s uniform and the line up of the posts represents the crew
standing at attention.
The visit to
Pearl Harbour was a humbling experience, one that we will never forget and actually one of the main reasons we wanted to visit Honolulu.
This botanical
garden is located in Kane’ohe, on the eastern side of Oahu Island. Most people
visiting are driving here but is also easy to visit by public transportation. The entrance is free. We took Bus 60 from Ala Moana Shopping Center. There
were 17 stops and the ride was 45 minutes. The closest bus stop to the
entrance, where we got off, was Anoi Rd + Hinamoe LP. From here it was a short
walk of 500 meters to the Gate. The gate was manned by two park rangers
available to give directions and information. As soon as we entered the gate we had
a stunning view of the palm-lined road with the Ko’olau mountain range in the
background. We had wished for many years to be in this very spot which took our breath away. The garden is so vast (400 acres) and has many winding trails through diverse plant species, by the man-made lake, full of colourful
fish, or to the numerous lookouts offering great vistas for photos or
videos. Everywhere we hiked we had breathtaking views of the unique Hawaiian
mountain landscape and felt like we had the gardens for ourselves.
Sea Life Park to Halona Blowhole Shoreline Walk
Looking on
Google Maps and seeing that walking was possible, we spent the day hiking and walking the
south east shoreline of Oahu. We got early in the morning and jumped on Bus 23
which took us from the hotel, all the way to Sea Life Park.
After crossing the street from the Sea Life Park, we were already in front of one of the most
beautiful ocean landscape. We could see Kaohikaipu Island and
Manana Island Seabird sanctuaries surrounded by the white waves of blue ocean.
Made a stop at Makapu’u Heiau, an area sacred for the Hawaiian people. The
shoreline is all black volcanic rock which creates tide pools and dramatic scenery
as the waves crash into the rocks. We continued to Makapu’u Beach and then climbed up to the road going
to the Makapu’u Lookout which offers nice views of the whole area from above.
Makapu’u Point Lighthouse Trail
A short walking
distance from Makapu’u Lookout is the Makapu’u Point Lighthouse Trailhead. It is an bout 4 km return trail that gains about 200 meters in elevation and is
part of the Kaiwi State Shoreline Trail. The path is paved and goes steadily up
but it is not too difficult. We encountered a lot of people hiking, including families with children. At the end of the hike there is a concrete lookout platform and from
here we could have stunning views of the ocean coast, the offshore islets and
of the red-roofed Makapu’u Lighthouse. The trail is an excellent place for
watching the migrating humpback whales, we even spotted one but were not able
to capture it on camera.
Kaiwi Shoreline Trail
After finishing
the Lighthouse Trail we started the Kaiwi Shoreline Trail which starts at the
same Trailhead, just followed the bifurcation in the road to the right. The
trail continues on a dirt road flanked by a grassy meadow all the way to Alan Davis Beach.
Alan Davis Beach and Pele’s Rock Chair
This small
hidden cove is also the location of Pele’s Rock Chair, a lava rock formation
that looks like a giant chair from afar. Pele is the Hawaii volcano goddess,
considered to be the creator of these beautiful volcano landscapes.
Halona Beach Cove and Halona Blowhole
We continued our
hike along the rocky shores, to Halona Cove, a small cove surrounded by
high ocean cliffs. As we climbed down, on the right, we could see also the lava
tube, a tunnel like cave. To the left of the cove is the Halona Blowhole
Lookout, offering good views of the geyser waterspout shooting the water high
in the air.
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We returned to
the hotel with the same bus after walking back about 1.5 km to Kealahou St +Kalanianaole Hwy bus stop.
A Walk to Diamond Head Beach Park
On our last day
in Honolulu we tried an easier walk to Diamond Head Beach Park and to Amelia Earhart’s Marker which is close to the Diamond Head Lookout. After that we
followed the paved trail from the road, down to the narrower, more secluded
beach where we enjoyed few moments of tranquility before heading back to the
Waikiki.
Visiting Hawaii was an amazing experience, one that left us longing for more. From the amazing beaches, scenery, history and culture to the nice weather all year round and the multitude of activities that can be done, we found it to be a place where we want to return.
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